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General Suggestions for a newbie.

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Hello all, I am both new to the world of Aquarium Building and this forum, so I thought I would post all my setup and see what you guys can tell me to make my tank a pleasant home. I can be an impulsive person, so i did not read any of the reference material I have now purchased and read until after I did all of this, so I know and am in the process of fixing a couple dozen issues, but I would still love some input if perhaps you have a tried and tested method that might make things easier. So here goes! Attached is a picture of the system. the plants are all young, and a few came from cuttings from a friends aquarium. (all properly cleaned.)

as of about 7 hours ago, considering I am at work at the moment, this is the setup.

10 Gal tank, was not properly cycled due to my idiocy but we are recovering, and the levels are carfully watched.

78-79 degrees, there is a automatic heater in the tank so fluctuations are rare.

I overcrowded the tank, so until I can get the 55 gal that will be gifted to me up and cycled these are my little buddies.
2 mollys
2 platys
2 swordtails
1 hi-fin tetra
1 red fin rainbow shark
1 snail
1 ghost shrimp
1 spotted catfish.

They are all juvinile and rather small, so for the moment they go with the 1 inch of fish per gallon of water rule but they are still a spot cramped and I would like to give them more room to race around in.

Now I tested this about 12 hours ago and but some of the bio-booster that lowers ammonia and nitrate levels, tested again and the numbers where much better. I did not write those new numbers down though so the WQ levels should not be as bad as they look. I will test again when I get home from work to see if I need to to a PWC though

ph-7.4
Ammonia - 1.5ppm
Nitrite - .5 ppm
Nitrate - 3.0 ppm

I also have 5 plants. Kyoto grass, a Tropica Fern, a Aquatic Fern and two plants I cannot remember the name of but where thriving in tanks of the same types of fish and temperatures of mine.

So does anyone have any ideas to fix what is wrong with the current setup or things I did not even think about yet? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, it's not so bad yet, but as you already know you will need that bigger tank soon, I hope the 55g is on its way. The rainbow shark is not a great community fish because they can be very aggressive, a bigger tank will help, but is not a guarantee. I am pretty sure the kyoto grass is not a fully aquatic plant and will rot. The hi-fin tetra is a schooling fish and need several more of its species to thrive, but don't get them yet, wait for the bigger tank or re-home the one you have. I know you said the levels weren't as bad as you posted, but you must bring them down. They should not get that high. Ammonia and nitrite must be kept no higher than around .25ppm until the tank is cycled. This may require several daily water changes because you have so many fish in a small tank. Impulsiveness is not a great thing in this hobby, many things (especially cycling) requires a whole lot of patience. I can be impulsive too, but it's important to learn about the fish and their needs before we give in to our wants. Not trying to be mean, just saying I understand and warn against it.

When I go fishing I just throw sharp rocks in the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherEverything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and make bad decisions. I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Dear naps, sorry I hated you so much when I was a child... Love me

I agree with mommy1 about the shark not being the best community fish. Another way to curtail the agression is to add more decorations to break up the line of sight, and to give him some hiding spots. They will stake their claim to a spot they like and will likely nip anything that comes near.

As for general tips, my philosophy is to over filter, under stock, and keep to an aggressive maintenance schedule. Follow those three rules and you shouldn't have any problems.

Thank you for the responces, and I will take your advice. I am hopeing I can get the 55g next weekend and start the cycle useing the fishless cycle method I had seen on this site a few hours ago, and the plan is to remove the tetra (with some friends), the platys (friends) and the mollys (friends) and place them in the 55 gal tank. I do not know the shape of the 55g (again its a free tank so I have not asked for pics or anything) but if it is a long one, which is what I expect, I will put the red fin in a dark little corner with a cave to make him all happy. do you think they will survive the 3-4 weeks? one of my platys are refuseing to eat and has syptoms on new tank shock for several days and I do not think he will recover at this point. does anyone know any tricks to maybe make him more comfortable?

and update - I am about to do a 20% water change, but my PH is 7.3, Ammonia 1.25, N02 .50 and 10 PPM.

Changed 2 gal of water, everything seems fine (for the moment) I took a look at the kyoto grass while doing the change and saw that indeed, the roots where all rotting so I removed that plant and my platy started eating! he ate a little and went back to a corner like before. Im very happy that he is eating now, but is still having the antisocial and unenergetic behavior mean that little has improved?

You need to do a bigger water change, 20% probably only brought the ammonia down to 1ppm. You need to do another 75% or two 50% changes to bring the ammonia down to .25ppm. The ammonia level is probably what is causing the platy's symptoms and why he perked up after a water change. For the temperature of the tap water, use a thermometer and adjust the faucet until you get it the right temp.

When I go fishing I just throw sharp rocks in the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherEverything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and make bad decisions. I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Dear naps, sorry I hated you so much when I was a child... Love me

Thank you for the responces, and I will take your advice. I am hopeing I can get the 55g next weekend and start the cycle useing the fishless cycle method I had seen on this site a few hours ago, and the plan is to remove the tetra (with some friends), the platys (friends) and the mollys (friends) and place them in the 55 gal tank. I do not know the shape of the 55g (again its a free tank so I have not asked for pics or anything) but if it is a long one, which is what I expect, I will put the red fin in a dark little corner with a cave to make him all happy. do you think they will survive the 3-4 weeks? one of my platys are refuseing to eat and has syptoms on new tank shock for several days and I do not think he will recover at this point. does anyone know any tricks to maybe make him more comfortable?

and update - I am about to do a 20% water change, but my PH is 7.3, Ammonia 1.25, N02 .50 and 10 PPM.

I agree with all above advice - I also got some kyoto grass from my local Petsmart (they had it in a tank) - it died pretty quickly.

You can't "put the red fin in a dark little corner with a cave to make him all happy" because it probably won't stay where you want it to LOL.

I agree that until you are able to test your water parameters, you need to change at least half of your water to get rid of the ammonia that will build up - it's got to stay lower than .5 to be "safe" for the fish while the filter cycles.

If that shark is being aggressive, that might also affect a fish's willingness to eat - that's what they do when they're stressed.

Thank you for the advice. I am now doing 2 50% changes a day, testing every chance i can and monitering the fish very closely(although I have been for the past 2 weeks.) I am also not seeing any Nitrite whatsoever in the tank yet.I am useing some bio boosters but they do not seem to be helping. Also with the red fin, I have not seen him attack any other fish, and he leaves his area he likes to stay in most of the time once in awile, but swims nicely and seems not to mind the other guys. he will chase them from his little patch though.